Did Someone Say Drones?

Funded Jul 9, 2021

Did Someone Say Drones? turned out to be a spectacular project! When this class was created, we only had two TELLO EDU drones. Then, three drones were added bringing along a joy impossible to contain. I remember they would stand behind my door before the bell rang just to push their way in to find out who would be flying on that day. Sometimes, that schedule reading would make them pump their fist in the air while echoing a victory song!- "Yes, I fly the Tello today!

Why does my class love Tello drones so much? These were the drones that introduced my class to this technology. They have facilitated the learning of difficult concepts on engineering, and robotics. We use Tellos to discuss geometric shapes and its angles. As my student fly these drones in teams, I have also noticed they have developed self-discipline, leadership, collaboration, listening and teamwork skills. I love when they get together to solve challenges!

Tello drones are very safe and easy to handle. With them, my students have acquired Visual Line of Sight operations (VLOS). These skills have been transferred to other drones the class has recently acquired. They have also been used to make my students understand FAA expectations as recreational flyers. As a matter of fact, they are currently studying to pass the exam to get their Recreational UAS Safety Test certificate ((TRUST).

Now, our Coding Fundamentals class is fun: students are learning how to code and fly their drones following FAA safety flight protocols. We have two flight stations for Tello, and Mambo Parrot drones. The latter quadcopters are six drones our school bought that are similar to Tello, but they are used to code as well- Unfortunately, the class was not able to code the Tello as planned as we had not enough laptops to install Scratch for this purpose.

The program is young, but very powerful. Every day, my students become more inquisitive about this technology. They function like a spring: an outside force will stretch them out, and Pum! A bounce will follow to find any direction for new challenges and knowledge.

In time, we would like to have more drones so that all my class members could experience building a drone. I would also like to go to competition, but we it might take a little longer as acquiring the needed game elements can be somehow pricey for my school at present. In the meantime, PSM students have found a place to grow and learn, and everything started with a dream and your generous donation.”

With gratitude,

Ms. Diaz